That is a scary thought when life is going well, and an encouraging word when it isn’t.
In the middle of a wonderful experience, the knowledge that all things pass is a reason to savor the moment to its fullest. In the middle of an ordeal, the knowledge that all things pass is a reason for hope and an incentive to endure. There is “a time to mourn and a time to dance”; everything, indeed, has its season.
Sometimes these seasons end suddenly, and sometimes we have time to prepare as best as we can. The only certainty is that it will end. It’s a sad fact: Even if we are able to fulfill the vow that “till death do we part,” for example, we acknowledge in the vow that we will part one day.
Once bitten by this fact and exposed to the devastating pain of that parting, a person can withdraw and never emerge to share again. I think that’s a tragedy; I would not wish a lonely life as a hermit on my loved one after I’m gone. And we each are capable of giving all we have, as long as we live. Life does goes on after loss.
In the meantime, the most important message I can offer is to savor the time while it is happening. Let the knowledge that it will pass encourage you to love and live life with everything you’ve got.
Sunday morning was blessed. I could scarcely believe the difference.
I had been scaring myself lately when I checked at the end of the day to see how much time I had spent looking at my “smart” phone. Alarmingly, I had one day last week with more than six hours staring at the thing and another day with more than four hours.
Clearly I needed to fix the hole where the rain gets in and keeps my mind a-wandering where it will go. I started seeing the ways I was letting my “smart” phone control me, such as counting my steps in the ongoing effort to get my weight down to a more manageable level. I would feel bereft if I went for a walk and forgot the device, because I wouldn’t get “credit” for the steps. It occurred to me that in my younger days I had measured my progress by counting the number of laps I ran at a YMCA track that was 1/24th of a mile around. We were able to measure progress in the dark ages before “smart” phones were born.
I have decided to start putting quotes around the word “smart” phone, because it really is a device that does the opposite of making us smart. We are made stupid, anxious and angry when we pick that thing up and stare all day at that tiny television screen, the fount of knowledge that separates us from reality.
“Look up from the screen and see what’s happening, w.p.,” I said to myself. “Smell a rose. Write a poem. Get back in touch with who you are.”
Looking in from the outside, I saw a sedentary lump who stares at screens, big and little, for up to 10 of the precious 16 hours I am given each day. Time, time, time, see what’s become of me; I should be looking around for my possibilities. No — rather, I should start seizing the opportunities every day offers me.
I cried out for help: “Lord, I am addicted to the electronic light, help me start to use the electronics as a tool, not my master. After all, I only pick up my hammer when I need to hammer something, not all the time randomly all day. Let me pick up my writing tools when I need to write, not to see if I got any more Likes or wondering what might be on TV tonight because I don’t feel like working again.”
And so, Sunday morning I left the laptop and the phone in the charger during all the time before I left for church, and surprise! I gave myself extra time to practice for the service (I play guitar in the worship team), vacuum the dogs’ play area, and water the tomato plants, in addition to getting dressed.
With the screens kept off, I was able to be more intentional with the day. The real test is coming as I type this — turning on my tools only to do the work, will I be able to maintain self-control and stare at the screen only long enough to to maintain my website, do the routine clerical work for my part-time job, and work on my next books?
I liked this morning and this version of myself. I honestly felt more in touch with myself than usual, more attentive to the people and happenings around me. I hope and I pray that I end up liking the day. Will Aug. 2, 2026, turn out to be the day that the real w.p. bluhm finally came home to stay?
If I could do it over again — if I could go back in time — if I had said what was on my mind before I went through with it — If I had just shut up that time —
There’s a new Spider-Man movie coming out this week. One of Marvel’s themes in recent years has been alternate universes — somewhere in another dimension is a “you” and a “me” who made a different choice at key moments in our lives: took that one job or refused it, married that person or decided to cancel the wedding, that sort of thing.
In the last film they took clever advantage of the fact that three different actors have portrayed Spider-Man in the movies, by crafting a story where all three Peter Parkers were real, just in different universes, and they worked together.
It’s fun imagining “What if,” except when it isn’t, when we sink into wondering if our lives would be better now if we had made a different decision back then. Let’s cut to the bottom line: You can’t change your past decisions, and it’s a waste of time, energy and emotion to guess what the outcome would have been.
Yesterday is etched in stone, and tomorrow is never exactly what we imagined it to be. The only thing we can control is today, this very moment, right now.
Our best option is to pay attention today, this very moment, right now, and make the choices that seem right and proper in this present moment. Rather than brooding about past decisions, we can incorporate what we learned back then into making this moment the best version of reality we can muster.
All we have is this universe. Even if there are alternate universes, this is the one we’re living in, and it’s very unlikely we’ll ever get a peek into those other worlds. So let’s make the most of this one.
